


Take You On A Cruise

by FrostedFox



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: F/M, Haircuts, Kylo Ren and Rey Are Related, Might get incest-y, Rating May Change, Young Rey
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-02
Updated: 2016-12-06
Packaged: 2018-09-03 16:37:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8721082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrostedFox/pseuds/FrostedFox
Summary: She remembers him in flashes. Uncle Han’s boy. Older and lithe and mean. He glared at her and spun around, wielding saber and blaster and chains. He threw dirt on her sandcastles, he stayed in his rooms. And then, years later, stood above her, bodies limp around them both. Red saber raised and blood in the hot desert sand. She fell to her knees but he hauled her upwards, and when he brought his face to hers, she realized he wasn’t all that much older that she recalled. Pimples on his forehead and grease in his hair. To Rey, six months on Jakku felt a lifetime.





	1. Chapter 1

It was never a matter of forgetting. Even if Snoke didn’t push his memories (his pride) into her mind at every meeting, there would still be the late night whispers, the dreams crossing the thin mind barriers that she shared with Kylo. Even if they wanted her to forget where she came from, she couldn’t. She wouldn’t. Her pain made her stronger, anyhow.

Wrapped in black and hair pulled taught, Rey stormed through the glittering hallways towards her room. If Kylo thought he could get away with going to the cells without her, with interrogating prisoners while she was modifying the command shuttle’s primary sensor node, well, curse him. Rey slammed Ren’s door open and saw his back, turned from her to look out the window. He still wore his mask, but pulled his hood down as he turned to look at her.

“You’re upset,” he declared.

“You could say that,” Rey said, cool, collected.

“Because I went to the cells.”

  
Rey broke. “You said you would bring me next time. You know I’ve wanted to get my hands on the new resistance pilot.”

“Snoke had ordered me to interrogate him. You were busy.”

Rey huffed. She sounded like a child and she knew it. She turned, planning on going back to her own quarters, more to make a point than anything. Before she could take three steps she was frozen in place, and Kylo came around to face her.

“Am I rubbing off on you?”

“What?”

“This temper. It isn’t you.”

“What do you know?”

“You. Fairly well, actually.”

“Release me, Ren.”

“Ask nicely, _Skywalker_.”

Rey spit at him, but he tilted his masked face away. He let her go and she turned on her heel and marched out. Curse him. 

 

*

 

He came to her quarters just past midnight. She feigned sleep as he stood above her. She held deep, even breaths until he rested his hand on her arms, at which point she turned over. 

“Hi.”

“Are you still angry with me?”

“No. Get in.” She shifted her body left and rolled over so she could watch him remove his jacket, his boots, his cowled over shirt, and leather belt. He slid in beside her, facing her as well. They blinked at each other for a few moments before he reached up to push her hair away from her eyes.

“Were you sleeping?”

“What do you think?”

“Me neither.”

She turned away from him, then, and he draped an arm across her waist.

 

*

 

She remembers him in flashes. Uncle Han’s boy. Older and lithe and mean. He glared at her and spun around, wielding saber and blaster and chains. He threw dirt on her sandcastles, he stayed in his rooms. And then, years later, stood above her, bodies limp around them both. Red saber raised and blood in the hot desert sand. She fell to her knees but he hauled her upwards, and when he brought his face to hers, she realized he wasn’t all that much older that she recalled. Pimples on his forehead and grease in his hair. To Rey, six months on Jakku felta lifetime.

“You will be silent.”

As if she would cry. As if she had water to spare. She nodded, didn’t let her eyes leave his. A challenge. He pulled her along and shoved her into a ship. He left her alone as he went to pilot. Just the two of them, no longer any troopers. 

 

*

 

“You will state your progress.” Snoke loomed over the two of them, but his gaze rested on Rey. She smiled, letting the chill of it spread across her face and seep into her neck, her arms, her legs. She could burst into flames if she so chose. But that was his job. She was ice.

“The finalizer has been repaired. We have the coordinates of the final resistance base. I plan to travel there as soon as I can, awaiting your instructions, of course.”

“And you, Ren?”

Kylo looked at Rey, just a moment, just a flash. She didn’t miss it. “It was my prisoner who gave us the coordinates. I hope to accompany my apprentice onthe journey.”

“I see,” said Snoke. “You have achieved little since I last spoke with you. I should hope to have a longer report when I next call you. But for now, you may go to the resistance base. Scope it out. Do not attack. There is information you yet need.”

Kylo and Rey bowed and the image of Snoke flickered out. He scowled at her and she grinned at him in return. “I could have got more out of the pilot,” she said.

“He would rather die than give information”

“But I wouldn’t have let him.”

“So you say.” To Rey, it sounded like a concession. 

In the empty hall outside Ren’s quarters, he pulled Rey by the arm and pinned her against the wall, his hands on her hips and his breath on her face. 

“We’re going to the rebel base,” he said.

“We are.”

“The last base.”

“Yes.”

“ _They_ ’ll be there.”

“I know.”

“And Luke—“

She stopped him by placing her lips against his. A would-be kiss if either had moved. She pulled away and said, “We don’t know that.”

“I do. I can feel it. Him. Can’t you feel it?”

“I can feel something,” she said, her eyes darting behind him as though what she felt loomed just above them. “I don’t know.”

“I can feel them when I sleep,” he whispered. 

“Shh. We want this. We’ve been working for this. We will end them. You and I. We’ll end them all.”

 

*

 

He brought her to Snoke immediately. She still had sand grit in her eyes and she could feel it as she looked up at the projection.

“What is this?”

“Force sensitive, master. The last one. The youngest.”

“You are soft to children, _Jedi Killer_?”

“No, it’s just—“

“Your cousin. Ah. I see.”

“The rest are dead, master. I thought… Well, I was concerned. That is, if something were to happen … if I were to—“

“Enough. You did well, Ren. You may keep the child. But she is under your care, now. It is your job to train her. And if she becomes a nuisance….” Snoke trailed off, and images of Ren slaughtering the rest of them, the children with abilities in training gyms, filled his mind. He suppressed a flinch. 

She slept on the floor that night, because the idea of a bed frightened her. She ate the bland bread, but left the fruit and meat alone. She dreamt of sand and wind and hot, hot sun. Her arms wrapped ‘round her legs, pulling close, conserving heat. The hard floor was the opposite of her small shelter. Surrounded by people, she felt more alone here than ever on the sandy banks.  

She met his eyes in the mirror and raised the scissors. He, in turn, raised his eyebrows.

“You know what you’re doing,” he asked. 

“Of course I do,” she said. “I’ve been cutting my own hair my whole life.”

“So have I,” Kylo accused. “But it always turns out uneven.”

 

*

 

Rey snipped the air twice and carded her fingers through his hair, gentle. Kylo closed his eyes at the feeling, then heard the unmistakeable crunch of hair being cut. He elected to keep his eyes closed and he heard her exhale a laugh.

When the job was done, Kylo admired himself in the mirror. Not much had gone, but it was cleaner now. The ends fell just below his chin and didn’t have the scraggly ends that bothered him before. And, it all seemed fairly even. 

“I’m impressed.”

“I’m good with blades.”

“Don’t I know it,” he said, and cupped her chin in his hand. With fingers spread, his hand was the size of her head, but she made up for what she lacked in size with a cold, deadly accuracy. She turned her head away and moved back into Kylo’s common area. Before he could reach her, she stopped and turned back to him. 

“I want to leave early tomorrow. Will you be ready?”

He gaped for only a second before answering. “Of course.”

“Good. The ship will be waiting.” She paused. “It looks good. Your hair.”

Kylo stood frozen and Rey turned, leaving him alone. 

She came to him that night. Found him awake in his bed, meditating. He opened his eyes as she came near and shifted over so she could sit beside him. She leaned, silent, on his shoulder as he resumed building and unbuilding blocks in his mind. She didn’t pry, didn’t want to distract him. The silence swarmed around them until she felt him gently resting her head on the pillow. She must have fallen asleep. He lay on his back beside her and took three deep breaths before rolling over to face the wall. 

They would have to be up in a few hours, anyways. 

 

*

 

On her third night on his floor, he came to her, picked her up and carried her to his bed. He, a seventeen year old boy, taking pity on the child and her obvious nightmares. He climbed in beside her but stayed as far as possible. She didn’t say anything, hardly moved, and he came to wonder if she slept at all. He had never seen anyone so constantly tense, so ready for panic. 

When he woke, she was gone. Already in the main room, sitting on his couch and staring at his wall. Waiting for him to give her food, to take her to training. Her every moment was spent waiting for him to give instructions. 

There was a school for young stormtroopers, and Kylo had thought about sending her there while he went about his own training, while he studied maps and tactics and met with Snoke. He wasn’t allowed to plan missions, not yet. He remained a servant to the First Order, a source of fire and power for when they needed violence. For years he had been alone with this. Jedi Killer. That’s what they called him. Well, no longer. He didn’t send the child to train with the troopers, he let her trail him and fight against sand bags and training droids, offering advice and technique, until she was strong enough to spar against him. 

 

It was years before she started winning.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I am the scavenger  
> Between the sheets of union  
> Lately I can't tell for sure  
> whether machines turn anyone.  
> Are you the scavenger?  
> Between the sheets of union  
> Lately I can't tell for sure  
> whether machines turn anyone."  
> \- Interpol, Take You On A Cruise


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank-you all so much. Sorta finished this chapter hastily because I needed to post it because today was bad and your feedback is sometimes an anchor for me to bind my sanity to. Or maybe like a buoy, but an anchor is a more lovely image, don't you think? This is for you.

She resisted for a long time. She fought against his mind and his darkness. But she couldn’t fight her own doubt. If Rey knew she had no darkness in her, she also knew she lacked a definitive light. She was vacant and young and growing. She saw the stormtroopers her age grow cold and distant, and she fought against that. But still, he brought her to his bed each night, brushed her hair out and fell asleep next to her. It was all she needed.

When he flew away to slay children or meet planet leaders or whatever it was that he did when he left, she couldn’t sleep, could hardly eat. She sat alone, lacking anyone to give her instructions.

This neediness is what forced her to rebel, to request her own rooms. She was nothing if not independent.

*

He held onto the rails tight, too tight, as they looked out the windows on Kylo’s command shuttle and watched storm troopers follow their captains in cascades of small armies. They had a plan — to circle the atmosphere, alongside a moon so that their presence, if not undetectable, would at least not set off any alarms — but still, Kylo worried.

“Meet you up front?”

Kylo shifted. “Yes. Give me a moment.”

Rey nodded and turned away. She felt irritation at his nervousness. Not only was it powerful enough to seep into her own psyche, but it was weakness, and Rey was done tolerating weakness.

When he did join her, he had a steady resolve. He was, after all, Kylo Ren. He knew what he wanted, and he knew who he wanted dead. Rey asked no questions, and together in a tangle of limbs, they launched the command shuttle out of the hanger and into the sky.

Rey would never get over space travel, and she couldn’t help the way her lips parted in amazement each time she experienced the lurch past light speed. She could almost feel her own particles separating, she thought. She had once voiced this to Kylo, but he had laughed. He had grown up at light speed.

*

When she was fifteen, he was promoted. No longer would he serve at the feet of generals and military men. Snoke had given him equal rank to General Hux, who sneered like a sand rat every time he caught Rey in the hall.

When Kylo returned to her, he wore no mask, and he was … smiling. His hair looked wild and his eyes hungry. Rey stood, on guard from the unfamiliar sight, as he strode towards her in three paces before picking her up and spinning. She beat against his shoulder, and he put her down, but held her tight by the shoulders.

“We did it.”

“Did what?” She tried to squirm away but he held fast.

“Made rank. No longer will they look down on me. On you. I am on top, now. A leader. This is it. This is what I’ve been waiting for.”

“Alright.”

He released her. “You aren’t understanding.”

“I understand.”

“Rey, I— This is all I’ve wanted.”

“Congratulations, then.” She went to move away, to return to her room, but Kylo put his hand on her shoulder again.

“For us.”

“You want my thanks?”

“I want— I don’t know. For you to be happy.”

She raised an eyebrow and tried to move away again, but he pulled her close and kissed her. So fast she could have missed it. So fast he pretended he did. He pulled away and turned so quickly she couldn’t make out his face, his reaction. They both hurried away to their own rooms.

The moment was never spoken of again.

 *

He shook her awake and she thought they must have arrived, that she must have overslept, but instead he held her face in his hands and it was then that she noticed the sweat that stuck his hair to his face, the wild eyes, as though he had just come from a fight.

“What’s happening?” She said, and her voice cracked with sleep.

“A dream,” he said, but his eyes still searched hers, his hands moved down to rest at the base of her neck. “A dream.”

“Tell me,” she said, and sat up so she could meet his eyes.

“You were gone. I think … I think I was gone. Just … disappeared. No one had ever heard of us. No one knew.”

“Lineage fears?”

“No. Something else. I’m not sure.”

“I’m here. You’re here. And no one will forget who we are. What we’ve done. What we’re about to do.”

“And what if we don’t?” Kylo’s eyes were fire, his voice a whisper.

“Don’t what?”

“Kill them. What if they win? It’s happened before.”

Rey ran her hands through her hair and Kylo grabbed her wrist. He pulled her shoulders back so he could run his hands through her hair instead. The sensation sent shivers down her spine and she arched her back.

“We’re broken, aren’t we?” Rey whispered.

“I was born broken,” he replied. “You were shattered young.”

“Yes,” she replied. It was all she knew to say.

 *

The first time he took her to a new planet, she almost cried. She could feel her eyes burn and she blamed it on the brightness of the colours and the reality of sunlight when all she knew anymore was the fluorescent white-on-steel glimmer of First Order ships.

The whole strip was spur-of-the-moment. A question asked in the early hours of the morning when neither could sleep.

“Let me take you somewhere.”

“Somewhere,” she repeated, her voice muffled by the pillow.

 “Away from here. Anywhere.” He sat up. “Where would you like to go?”

"Away from here,” she repeated again. She was tired, not in the mood to talk, and most importantly, had no knowledge of planets or their systems beyond Jakku and names she only heard mentioned. She was fairly certain she didn’t want to go to Coruscant. She eventually fell into something close enough to sleep while he sat, tense, against the headboard. When she woke, he was no longer in the bed.

After showering and dressing, she found him in the main room, shoving weapons and dehydrated food into a bag. She watched for a moment before she recognized what he was doing. Packing. So he planned on making good on his late night desires.

“What about your work? What about training?”

“We can train there. You’ll like this. You’ll see.”

The idea of the two of them — and only the two of them — going away for a trip festered a sort of acid in her gut. Ever since he had kissed her, she had been hesitant to be alone with him, at least in the daylight. There was something familial about sleeping in the same bed. Kylo had given her her own rooms, and that’s where she spent her free time during the long days, but she still couldn’t sleep on her own. She knew it was strange, but that had been where she slept since he had brought her here, and she had just been a girl then. At fifteen, she still felt a girl.

To her occasional despair, this meant she still felt excitement at the prospect of something new. So she went along with him. Rey shoved food and water into another bag and together they loaded into a small fighter. It was the only ship that made sense for the false scope-out itinerary Kylo had given. A recon mission.

It was a memory she would always return to, the way light glinted off rivers from so high above, and the way forests smelled when you were in so deep you couldn’t find the sun. Kylo didn’t touch her, he only followed her as she spent three days wandering and touching the land as though she could hardly believe it was real.

 

She returned to this memory when her world shattered, ten years later and far, far away…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I see that you've come to resist me  
> I'm a pitbull in time  
> The pretence is not what restricts me  
> It's the circles inside  
> An anatomy of kisses  
> And a teacher who tries  
> And knows how we'll disappear."  
> \- Interpol, Take You On A Cruise


End file.
